LIECHTENSTEIN (Bloomberg) — Liechtenstein will step up the fight to eliminate tax evasion by reaching agreements with other countries after the principality shed its status as a tax haven under OECD rules, Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher said.

Liechtenstein was removed from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developments grey list of countries that havent complied with global tax standards, Tschuetscher said yesterday. After signing 12 tax-information-exchange accords, the principality will continue to normalise relations with countries through bilateral treaties, he said.

"I think this is a good standpoint for the future, though of course it's an intermediate step," Tschuetscher said in a phone interview yesterday from the Liechtenstein capital, Vaduz. "We are working in open markets, in a globalised world, so tax evasion should be marginalised."

Liechtenstein, a principality of 35,000 people wedged in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria, pledged in March to comply with the OECDs standards after spending years on an OECD list of uncooperative tax havens. The Group of 20 industrial and emerging nations have taken aim at tax havens, making them one of its central focuses in efforts to fight the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Signing the 12 so-called TIEAs was a key requirement to be taken off the OECD grey list, comprised of countries that have committed to OECD standards yet haven't complied with them. A list updated yesterday by the OECD places Liechtenstein among jurisdictions that have substantially implemented standards.

Bermuda was the first jurisdiction to be promotoed from the grey list to the "white list" in June this year.

On Tuesday, Liechtenstein signed TIEAs with the Netherlands and Belgium, adding to such agreements with Germany, France and the US. Liechtenstein has also agreed to a tax arrangement with the UK that allows British investors to declare back taxes voluntarily in exchange for limited penalties.

Tschuetscher said the Liechtenstein-UK agreement was tailor made for both countries tax systems and that the government was open to securing similar voluntary agreements with other countries, including Germany.

Relations between Liechtenstein and Germany came under strain in 2008 when Germany opened a tax-evasion probe aimed at hundreds of Liechtenstein investors, using data purchased from a former employee of the princely houses bank, LGT Group. Crown Prince Alois, who rules Liechtenstein, at the time called the probe an attack on his country.

Tschuetscher yesterday suggested that relations with Chancellor Angela Merkels newly elected government, including the new finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, could improve. Schaeuble's predecessor, Peer Steinbrueck, lambasted the tax behaviour of Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria.

"This is a good development," Tschuetscher said.